New York Sun Works teamed with Arup and The Vertical Farm Project to create an interesting and architecturally well thought out entry for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. the Vertically Integrated Greenhouse solves two problems at once: by creating a facade system that incorporates agriculture into the skin food is grown within a building which reduces energy associated with transporting produce and solar heat gain is mitigated by the plants themselves. it’s an interesting idea, and creates a techy third option to the two methods of integrating agriculture into buildings, the rooftop garden and the enclosed agricultural zone.

while it’s a very interesting idea, I think it’s an idea that merits a 30 page essay of explanation as opposed to several paragraphs. some issues, like the crop-curtain wall integration, are very well thought out but the VIG is such a radical concept it almost poses more questions than it answers- while you might be able to put a $50 per square meter per year benefit to human productivity because of cleaner air, wouldn’t that cost be mitigated by the distraction of having agricultural workers maintaining the crops? would you really want farm integrated with your office? how does the energy reduction of the crops compare to energy costs of a hydroponic system of that scale and that inefficient layout?

the Vertically Integrated Greenhouse is a provocative project and an important one in how it could change the typical perception of agriculture and architecture. my suspicion is that farmers, architects, and others more directly involved with these fields are curious about v2.0

from ::cityfarmer.

lately TOSD has been a little dormant… I was lucky enough to convince my amazing girlfriend to marry me, so blogging hasn’t exactly been at the center of my focus… but there’s a large, large backlog of topics so stay tuned over the next weeks, I should be posting a lot.

one subject that’s fairly timely- the chain of ecohomes competition just started their online voting process and two good friends of TOSD have a very compelling entry. maybe I’m biased, but my take is that their ability to merge sustainable design into a modern and contextual architecture is significantly higher than the other leaders at this point. they’re also one of two vote leading entries to incorporate agriculture into their design.

I feel very passionately about the benefits of urban and home based agriculture, so much so that you can look for an upcoming second blog devoted to the subject. but I think more importantly than simply suggesting that architecture can be used to grow food is the idea that sustainable design can provide for more than just itself. the majority of entries in the competition and the majority of contemporary sustainable work seems to be focused on sustainably providing for itself in terms of energy, resource and material use. but to begin to see architecture as having the ability to provide a sustainable platform for all facets of our lives is both visionary and inspired.

vote for 0218.

EDIT: voting has ended, but it’s an interesting selection of work to look at.